Oneshot Citadel
by K-promises-fall
Summary: Just a collection of unrelated oneshots, most with a darker point of view, that I come up with when I'm bored. Check it out if you want. R&R.
1. The Line Ends Here

**The Line Ends Here**

**By: K-promises-fall**

**K: **No summary here. But FYI, _Italics_ is a memory/memories and normal font is what's actually happening.

**WARNING: This is crap. You have been warned.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto etc. etc. Please not that I will only be saying this once. AND ONLY ONCE!! **I DO NOT OWN NARUTO IN ANY WAY!**

OOO

There was a light – too bright. Then it was dark again. A comforting darkness that he had gotten used to this past month. The light was back again and this time he could just barely make out square tiles directly above him before he was dragged back into that warm, loving darkness.

- - - - -

_A six year old version of him ducked into an alleyway and watched with petrified wide eyes as a group of __drunken villagers ran past his new hiding place, knives glinting in the industrial light of a nearby streetlamp._

- - - - -

There was that light again – still too bright. Before he returned to the darkness, his view shifted to the side to catch a glimpse of pink and shadow.

- - - - -

_This one was one year later. That same flash of pink grabbed his __attention. The girl was surrounded by a group of kids; bullies. He heard himself shout, "Hey, leave her alone!" Then there was a quick fight, then pain – lots of it. And that pink haired girl thanking him._

"_I'm Haruno Sakura…_

- - - - -

This time, the light was merely a glare behind his closed eyelids. He heard crying – a weak and pathetic, "Naruto-kun…" The dark was too tempting to pass up.

- - - - -

"_Iruka-sensei! I didn't do it!"_

_A young man with a scar across the bridge of his nose smiled at him. "I never said you did, Naruto." The feeling of hope. "What say we go get some ramen, my __treat?"_

- - - - -

He was hungry. He should probably get something to eat. The light blinded him. He squinted at it, and it lessoned. Now for some food. He looked to the side and saw a man. Probably in his thirties, with a scar across the bridge of his nose. The man saw him and started to say something. He didn't hear it; he was gone again.

- - - - -

"_Hey old man?" The person he was talking to looked up, his face full of wrinkles, a gleam in his tired eyes. "Do you like being Hokage?"_

_The man smiled, "I wouldn't trade it for anything else."_

_Hokage… the word 'dead' came to mind. "Well enjoy it while you can, 'cause I'm gonna be Hokage someday!" the old man laughed._

- - - - -

"-I love you, Naruto-kun. Please don't leave me… please…" _Love?_

- - - - -

_A boy his age. Red eyes, black tomoes; Sharingan. A change in the boy; long hair, wings – curse seal. They clashed, a thousand birds chirping, a soft drilling hum. _Hate.

- - - - -

There was no light this time. He looked around and was met with the sights and sounds of a hospital room. Flowers, cards, ramen – they were everywhere. And there was a faint beep. He hated it. It just kept going… beep… beep… beep…

- - - - -

_He hated hospitals. A man was checking him over, one of the few who didn't hate him… Who hated him? "You're good to go. You heal pretty fast, kid." He left. He was always a fast healer._

- - - - -

So much noise. The rustling of clothes, orders being shouted about.

"Where's that blood-"

"Heart fluctuating-"

"I need some light over-"

"Nurse-"

"More chakra-"

"Light please!"

The glaring light returned. Too much. He squinted, the shadow of a head looming over him. Green eyes, pink hair. "Just relax, Naruto. We'll take care of you." He closed his eyes.

- - - - -

_A cage; large, empty – no, not empty. A fox; large and red. The Kyuubi-no-kitsune; nine-tailed demon fox, sealed inside him. Demon spawn, Kyuubi incarnate, jinchuriki; all of them names for him, all of them hurt._

- - - - -

He remembered Kyuubi. He missed the damn fox. Just another person he had lost.

- - - - -

_Green__… so much green… and caterpillars. Bushy brows. What the hell was a bushy brow? Was that a ping? Clones?_

_- - - - -_

"-last the night. Gomen." Gasps, crying. Never giving up. Who never gave up? Himself… Hinata-chan. Hinata?

- - - - -

"_-proud of you, Hinata-chan!"_

"_That was awesome!"_

"_Could you teach me that sometime?"_

"_**SASUKE!!**__"_

"_-not Kyuubi."_

"_I'm gonna be Hoka-_

- - - - -

Everything was so fuzzy. Incomprehensible. White eyes. Like pearls. Warm, inviting, loving. Why couldn't he go there instead of the dark? But the dark wanted him; he could feel it pulling at him. So… very…

- - - - -

"NARUTO-KUN!!"

OOO

End

**K**: Told you it sucked. Ahh, well. That's that. No need to review to tell me how crappy it was, though if by some miracle you actually liked it I wouldn't mind hearing about that. Give me a break, my mind is tired and yet I feel called to continue writing… and I have nothing else to do.

It's just about Naruto dying. At first I was writing it so that each "reality" would correspond with the memory above or below it. Then I got lazy and just wrote whatever came to mind. Yeah.

To explain what **Oneshot Citadel** is about. This is just a collection of unrelated, extremely short stories (under 1000 words) that I come up with when I am extremely bored. Do not expect regular updates, though I'll probably put a story up every week for a short while, as I have some stories already written that I plan to put here. **There will be no disclaimers, no summaries either. **The stories here are too short for summaries, and I refuse to go through the annoyance of saying the same thing every time i update. So please note, as I am saying this for the last time **I DO NOT OWN NARUTO IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.**

Thank you,

Ja ne.


	2. THe Other Side of Determination

**The Other Side of Determination**

**By: K-promises-fall**

**K:** You should know the drill by now; no summaries. There's no need for them in here. This one is super short. Trust me.

OOO

This should not have happened. He had gotten stronger. He had trained relentlessly. Day after day. Millions of kage bunshin had been used to ensure that he got the best possible training in the least amount of time. He had the fox. He had Jiraiya. With Tsunade as Hokage his position as the Rokudaime was secured, all he needed to do was claim it by proving that he was ready for it. Everything was setting itself up perfectly, so how was this happening?

He was a proud failure, but there was nothing to be proud of right now. Here was someone who could kill him. He couldn't even move! Couldn't call on the Kyuubi to help him out!

He looked up into that smirking face. Kami, how he wanted to wipe that smirk off permanently. He was offered a hand which he begrudgingly held, and was pulled from the ground, collapsing into the victor's arms. The next time he would win. Only the strongest became Hokage, and some smirking smartass wasn't about to take it away.

OOO

End

**K:** Told you it was really short. That's like 176 words. That's the shortest thing I've ever written in my life!! …Apart from school work. Heheh. It's just the darker side of Naruto's determination where he gets a bit too arrogant in his abilities and needs a good beat-down. I don't know who it was that beat him. I know that sounds weird, but it's the truth. If asked I would say Hinata. But it could be anybody, Sasuke, Shino, hell even Sakura (though that's highly unlikely), anybody. Review as usual. Don't hate me for the shortness of it. That's why I made this little oneshot citadel, for extremely short oneshots that I wouldn't dare put on their own in this large shark-filled world of fandom.

Ja ne.


	3. The Back of the Mind

The Back of the Mind

**The Back of the Mind**

**By: K-promises-fall**

**K**: Still no summary. Just some more crappy writing. The usual.

**T****HIS FIC IS INSPIRED BY A STORY BY MY FRIEND, Failing Emotions. ( I don't think she put it up yet though)  
**

OOO

Itachi was not a murderer, neither was he cold hearted; not in here anyway. In the outside world he had to be the perfect shinobi, and he was. He never wanted to kill his clan, he was obligated to. They were a threat, not only to the village and all shinobi countries, but to themselves. They were never a clan to begin with; he understood all of this, but he never wanted to kill them. In the outside world, however, he had no choice.

He never told anyone this, but he had never wanted to be a shinobi in his younger years. He wasn't a genius as everyone thought him, but an utter failure. He had been a reluctant learner, an unwilling learner of the shinobi arts and even then he picked it up as if he had already known it all. All Itachi wanted to do was own his own café. An odd aspiration, yes, but he wouldn't lie, not in here where there was no need to. It was just something he wanted to do. Being able to just watch as people drank and talked and lived life. To be able to just watch as people's lives went by; it was all he wanted. His father disagreed.

If he wasn't allowed to watch life go by, he would take it. That was a thought that he could never call his own. Especially if he wasn't in control. He had, albeit secretly, been ecstatic when Sasuke was born; there was someone else to take the burden of being clan heir to the Uchiha throne. But by the time Sasuke was trainable he was already starting to lose control. He wanted to train Sasuke so that Sasuke would become better than him. But _he_ didn't want that, not in that way.

Itachi would never own a café; he would never be able to watch lives. Believe me, I made sure of it. His mind is mine to control, and the real Itachi is stuck far in the depths of his mind, way in the back. But I am kind. In here he is free to watch lives. The lives of countless people I myself have watched, I am not completely heartless. Yes, I made him kill his clan, and yes I have made it so that when he faces Sasuke he will lose, but I have given him the façade of freedom, far in the back of his mind. After all… Tobi _**is**_ a good boy.

OOO

End

**K:** I'll let you in on a secret. This little story is my favourite so far out of this collection. The last sentence is just perfect in every way an ending could be.

Also, some people seem to misunderstand the whole concept of me making Itachi want to own and run a café. It's the not the café itself that matters, but the act of being able to watch people. Look at it this way. In a café, people slow down long enough to reflect on their own lives, to chat it up with a few friends and just overall, relax. Itachi wants to see people at those parts in life when they finally slow down to reflect. I hope you get what I'm saying.

On another note, just incase the last sentence causes confusion, Tobi is the person telling the little story. He's the one controlling Itachi.

You know the drill. Reviews people. No flames, but constructive criticism that makes sense is encouraged if there should be any. Ask me any questions if you don't understand something.

Ja ne.


	4. Not Here You're all Alone

**Not Here – You're All Alone**

**By: K-promises-fall**

This one is about Hinata and Neji. Enjoy.

OOO

Hinata collapsed to her knees with a _thud_, her breaths coming in ragged pants, her hands sore and red and swollen, her shirt soaked through with sweat underneath her oversized jacket.

She had improved; not by much, but an improvement was just that, improvement, and she smiled that she had managed to hit the tree all of 247 times with Jyuuken before the timer for 3 minutes went off.

She smiled weakly – an expression soon broken by haggard coughs that shook her ribs and made her throat scratchy and uncomfortable. Her hand instinctively went to cover her mouth and she pulled it back to find small beads of wetness trailing slowly down her open palm. She stared at her hand detachedly and wiped her lips with the sleeves of her other arm, staining it red. Not caring about the fresh stain on her jacket, she slowly pushed herself to stand on her shaky feet and turned towards the training ground entrance, only to find Neji standing there.

"N-ni-nii-san?" She winced at the stutter in her voice, still evident years after she had promised to improve.

"Hinata-sama," Neji's tone was the same as it had always been; Hyuuga cold. "Your father is worried, it's very late." Hinata took note of how she had failed yet again to reach home before dark and sighed, discontented.

Her knees shaking was the only warning before her legs gave out and she collapsed from exhaustion, coughing up blood harshly and clutching her chest in pain. Neji stepped forward and offered her his hand, which Hinata clutched and squeezed tightly until the coughs subsided.

Using Neji's hand for support she pulled herself to her feet only to stagger forward, surprised, into his arms. Neji's hand was placed gently above her heart, which stumbled out a few more beats in a desperate effort to continue life. Hinata's legs lost all feeling as Neji dropped to his knees in support of her fall. Neji laid her on the ground gently and Hinata looked at him with fright-filled eyes. "Ni-nii-san…?"

Neji only stared back in that unfeeling way of his as the light left her eyes. "Naruto is not here, cousin. You have no one to protect you this time. You are all alone."

The next day, news of Hinata's death spread throughout Konoha. It was confirmed that the cause of death was a heart failure due to past injuries. Hyuuga Neji only blinked when informed of her passing.

OOO

End

K: Just to make sure the objective of this mini-story is clear, Neji killed Hinata. This one is under 500 words.


	5. Perfection Illusion for the Mind

**Perfection; Illusion for the Mind**

**By: K-promises-fall**

K: Enjoy. Warning: This one is a little graphic.

OOO

It was perfect, it was all so unbelievingly perfect. And it had to be, because Hyuuga were perfect. Hyuugas were the best of the best, having perfect eyes, perfect fighting form, perfect bodies, perfect eloquence, perfect beauty, perfect smell – yes, they even smelled perfect. She inhaled deeply and then coughed harshly, having inhaled mostly smoke. But beneath the smoke lay the scent of charred, soggy meat, smoked out and burning and… _hot_; the scent carried the heavy scent of heat with it.

Like she said – and a little grin adorned her burned, pulsing, puffy face, yellowish ooze seeping out of the tender raw and rapidly blackening flesh, enhancing her non-existent lips and her teeth, white and perfect in the firelight – Hyuugas, they smelled perfect.

Undeniably so.

And the voices, she couldn't forget the wonderful voices. The throaty gurgles of the bass, the sharp high-pitched sopranos and those amazing falsettos, all calling, reaching out to her. She laughed; a sprout of giggles that stretched out her lipless mouth and made her face hurt. It was a chorus, a chorus that only those as perfect as the Hyuuga could give, but it was ending – sadly enough. There was one last desperate wail (moan), and then silence filled only with the crackling of feeding flames.

She looked over at what remained of her sister. A blackened, cracked mass with depressions for eyes and crispy lips curled inward, like the way bacon curls inward when fried till crispy. Even her sister, the black sheep of the entire clan, the one failure, had managed to live up to the Hyuuga name. Her voice had been the best – the most perfect among all the perfections.

She giggled again, her throat burning and itchy, her voice broken and dry – perfect. "You were the best onee-chan. You finally proved them wrong. You were better than them." Then she laughed a silent noise, nothing but croaks in the firelight. It was the laugh of a dying person and it was perfect in that way. So was the image she had projected of her dead sister, her sister who really was there, who really was dead, who really was perfect.

They all were.

-- -- -- --

Hinata knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open and entering the small room. Her eyes were trained on the grey cement floor, away from the padded white walls and the person whom she knew lay in one of the rooms corners. She locked the door quietly and walked toward said person, kneeling in front of them. Hinata's eyes immediately went to the person's non-existent legs; blackened stumps she had been cursed with seeing before they had been forever wrapped in plain white cloth.

The person was mumbling to herself, like she always was.

"-perfect, it's all perfect," she said, followed by a light almost hearty laughter. "You were perfect onee-chan."

Hinata's head rose to the person's face as if they had actually addressed her, of course they hadn't, this person was far far away in lala land, in their own little perfect world. Hinata's eyes went to the girl's face, so much like her own had it not been for one thing. Her eyes were nothing but scarred tissue, the girl's eyelids melted over the empty sockets sealing away sightless eyes. Hinata's body trembled with unreleased sobs as the girl – only 14 now – laughed again.

"Onee-chan, why are you so quiet, onee-chan? Why did you stop singing? Your voice is beautiful, perfect. Why'd you stop singing? Why'd you stop screeeaaming?" She laughed once more, as if the way she had dragged out the word 'screaming' had been funny. Hinata shivered. "Your voice was best, always best; I love it, I love it, it's perfect, absolutely. So sing some more? Please sing some more, please?"

Her frame rocked and Hinata imagined how the tears would have been leaking from her eyes had there been any. So she did the only thing she could think of. She hugged her. Hinata hugged her sister in the way their father never had and the way her mother never had a chance to. She hugged and rocked her back and forth as she sang the only song she could remember from her mother.

It seemed to work for a few seconds as Hanabi relaxed in her arms, then Hanabi tensed and the next thing Hinata knew, Hanabi was thrashing around in her arms desperately wriggling her arms, restrained only by the straightjacket she wore.

"No! No! NO! Scream! Scream! Scream!!"

Hinata stopped singing and simply clutched her sister to her tightly, stroking her hair lovingly. "It's okay Hanabi." But it wasn't.

"It's always okay, right? Always. Because we're perfect?"

Hinata felt compelled to nod. "Yes," she said, nodding slowly as she stroked Hanabi's smooth black hair, remembering the fire that had killed her sister's sanity. "Because we're always so perfect."

OOO

End

K: I'm in a Hyuuga mood for some reason, even though none of them are really about Hinata… odd.

And yes this was under 1000 words; 814 actually. XD

Review people!

Ja ne ;)


	6. A Great Father

**A Great Father**

**By: K-promises-fall**

K: Settle down kids, settle down. We don't deal with summaries in here; all the stories are too short for them. So, yea…

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I'm getting tired of saying it again and again.

OOO

Hiashi was a great father. He did what he had to do to ensure the best for the future of both of his daughters.

He was strict, he was firm, he was harsh and uncaring. He showed no mercy and never held back in training. He didn't settle for "great" or "perfect"; with him it had to be 210% and higher. Neither did he soften his gaze or pull his punches; he fought with all he had.

Yes; he was a great father. He wanted his children to grow up strong. He wanted them to know how cruel and unfair, and heartless life could be. He wanted them to know that simply changing who you were wasn't enough. In life you had to transform; you had to hatch from your egg and cast off your old self completely. Hanabi had learned, and he'd be damned if Hinata didn't learn this too.

He only wanted what was best. And every time Hinata cried, or fell down defeated, or thought of love, or smiled kindly, she proved him a failure.

Hyuuga Hiashi does. Not. Fail.

_Ever._

She'd learn the lesson, or he'd kill her himself.

That-- That was why he was a great father.

OOO

End

K: Just something else that came to mind when I was bored. Basically, Hiashi's reason for why he treats his daughters the way he does.

Hope you enjoyed.

Read and Review.

Ja ne ;)


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